Mobile Advertising Reached New Heights In 2013 Thanks To A Flurry Of Deals

Mobile Insights is a daily newsletter from BI Intelligence delivered first thing every morning exclusively to BI Intelligence subscribers. Sign up for a free trial of BI Intelligence today.

---

Mobile Advertising Will Reach New Heights In 2013 (Mooreland Partners LLC)
According to Mooreland Partners LLC, an M&A advisory firm that operates primarily in the digital media space, the global mobile advertising market will grow 62% by the end of 2013 to almost $14 billion, as acquirers and investors flock to the market. Mooreland estimates there have been 21 major mergers in 2013 so far.

Mooreland also points to mobile as being the third-largest advertising format, just behind desktop search and display advertising.

In general, we feel the same way. In September, we broke down the global mobile advertising market by format, and estimated about 70% growth for a nearly $15 billion market by the end of 2013 on the back of mobile search ads.

The move forward starts with technological advancements. Mobile ad tech is trending toward programmatic, or automated ad buying, which is transferring the roles ad buyers and sellers to software. It will help agencies more easily navigate the complicated mobile ad space.

Above all else, mobile advertising is a burgeoning market that is ripe for M&A activity, which will help create some consolidation in a largely fragmented industry, push the industry's scale forward, and will determine the real leading players in this space. Read >

In other news...

The battle for content heats up between leading connected set-top box device makers. Apple has worked a deal with Yahoo to launch an Apple TV version of Yahoo Screen, Yahoo's streaming content iOS app, which now gives users access to PBS shows and already has a library filled with Viacom TV content. (9 To 5 Mac)

Roku, on the other hand, has entered a deal with TV streaming company Sling Media to allow Slingbox users to stream their live or recorded TV from Slingbox on a Roku device. This is the first time Sling has expanded its popular streaming software to work with a streaming device. (Mashable)

The updated Twitter mobile app on iOS and Android now places trending TV shows at the top of the "Discover" tab, another sign that the social network is increasing its focus on social TV. (Mashable)

How big is Snapchat really? A source from the photo-sharing app told our own analyst Cooper Smith that it now sends over 400 million "Snaps" per day. (BI Intelligence)

But from a userbase standpoint, no one is really sure, which is why Josh Constine and Alex Wilhelm at TechCrunch took on the challenge of reverse engineering Snapchat's userbase. (TechCrunch)

But Snapchat's real size is a bit hard to really gauge, and the number of "snaps" isn't a very useful data point, claims John Herman of BuzzFeed. He thinks that we have yet to hear a single useful number from the company that would allow analysts to understand how large it really is, and how much real activity it channels. (BuzzFeed)

React Messenger is a new mobile messaging app that is looking to combine the simplicity and scale of WhatsApp and Viber with the visual appeal of Snapchat. (TechCrunch)

U.S. carrier AT&T is now carrying a $199 smart "watch-phone" called Filip that has been designed for and is aimed at children. For kids, it lets them call and text message their friends. For parents, it doubles as a GPS tracker. (GigaOm)